"I would ask my clients if this man is still worth holding onto. If violence has already occurred multiple times, it proves that the other person has lost reason and exposed character flaws. Such a man is not worth keeping, regardless of love. While helping the client regain herself, I would suggest legal means to solve the problem... but he and I are not in that situation yet. It was the first time he hit me, and we do have feelings for each other."

Qian snorted, "All abused women use this emotional excuse as toxic comfort to numb their souls. I admit that love and domestic violence often coexist, but is this kind of love you want? As a PhD holder, you still let your life become such a mess. Don’t you know where your problem stems from?"

"I’ve been unlucky..."

"Nonsense, my mentee is even less fortunate than you, yet she can handle domestic violence cases excellently. She said just four words, and that convinced me she has more experience with such cases than you. Your incompetent reaction to domestic violence is related to your failed treatment experience, simply because you’re missing those four words."

"What four words?"

"Regain yourself. Just those four words. Liu Xiaohua, what is your self-worth? Holding a high degree and apprenticing under a renowned mentor, yet inflating yourself and willing to lower yourself for a man with good conditions? Foolish."

"I..."

"If you just want to cling to a relationship and endure humiliation, then what were all those years of hard study for? Did your parents raise you for so many years just so you could live dazed under the guise of a city elite? Forget your parents, let’s talk about our mentor, what have you done to make her proud?"

Mentioning the mentor, Liu Xiaohua was still indignant.

"She always looks down on me."

"If she looked down on you, would she have accepted you? Would she go out of her way to remind me to look after you? Without her connection, do you think I would be here, watching you like a wimp and cleaning up your mess? Our mentor’s heart has never been strong. If she knew about your situation, do you think she’d be worried? Where else in the world would you find a mentor who takes care of her mentees like this? She didn’t let you handle such cases because she looks down on you; she hopes you would progress step by step and doesn’t want you to fail as soon as you start. If she suddenly lost a mentee she worked hard on for several years, wouldn’t she feel heartbroken?"

These words were true. Thinking of the mentor’s stern expression, Liu Xiaohua felt that she really had let her down this time. Sitting on the bed, face covered, she felt something missing inside.

People only realize things after suffering and setbacks. Qian’s words made her completely awaken.

"I’m not going to give you any specific advice. I’ll just tell you one thing: if you don’t want to be a loser for the rest of your life and don’t want to let your mentor and family down, stand up and think of a solution. If you want to treat patients, if you want to save your marriage, it’s all based on finding yourself. The question you need to consider now isn’t whether or not to get a divorce or how to avoid your work blunders; you first need to find your position. Only when you find yourself and do not rely on any relationship can you follow your heart to find the right solution."

"What is my self? Chen Xiaoqian, how do you see me? Am I really that incompetent and useless?"

"Want to hear the truth?"

"Yes." Being in this state, Hua felt she could endure any more stimulation.

"You are narrow-minded but have great vanity, wanting to run before you can walk. But you don’t realize that in the field of psychological counseling, a degree isn’t enough. Everyone, including me, needs to go through extensive clinical practice and meet a good mentor. Only through the tempering of time can one become an independent counselor. This is unlike any other industry."

A good psychological counselor not only needs a high degree as a threshold but also needs extensive time to practice clinically. Without the wealth of clinical experience from past lives, how could Qian be as competent today?

"Yes, I am a failure..." Hua appeared dispirited. Qian’s words were very objective, but why hadn’t she realized it before?

"You’re wrong; you are not a failure; you are just too anxious for success. Perhaps my presence has put too much pressure on you, twisting your mindset and making you too eager to prove yourself. But have you ever noticed my hard work and efforts?"

"Have you worked hard? What I see is you always being at ease, always getting what we work hard for effortlessly."

"You didn’t see my hard work. I once stayed up night after night reciting those convoluted theories. When you were gossiping, I was studying Freud and Brentano, communing spiritually across time and space. When did you ever see me waste time chatting idly with a group? From enrollment to now, in over four years, I’ve barely watched one TV series, and I’ve counted the times I’ve been to the cinema on one hand. Are you sure my life is easy?"

People always like to focus on others, comparing others’ strengths to their weaknesses.

Compared to the average university student, Qian’s life was indeed somewhat dull and even bland.

It was only when she was with friends and Xiaoqiang that she would relax a bit, much more than in her previous life. In her past life, she was even more diligent; the accumulation from both lives is what led to her current success, efforts that outsiders cannot easily see.

"Liu Xiaohua, your character is not for me to judge. I personally don’t like your personality and wouldn’t be friends with someone like you. But objectively speaking, I think you’re pretty solid in your professional foundation, possessing the basic qualities of a psychological counselor. I acknowledge your efforts in your field."

Who would’ve thought that the same Chen Xiaoqian, who once tormented her with a bottle of medicated oil, would say such words, leaving Hua too shocked to cry.

"Why would you say that?" Shouldn’t Chen Xiaoqian be scolding and mocking her?

"This is the difference between me and you. My no-nonsense approach means I am destined to be a big boss, while you will at most become a hardworking employee working under a boss."

Being envied is inevitable. In both her past and present lives, gossip around Qian never ceased.

Even after she established her own studio and team, people privately continued to talk about her.

If she got angry and nitpicked every time, she’d have long died from the frustration.

Managing a team isn’t about those who follow me prospering and those who oppose me perishing; it’s about maximizing everyone’s contributions and squeezing out every bit of extra value to create the greatest profit. Qian had seen plenty of people with Hua’s kind of personality and was long practiced in dealing with them.

"Though the big boss has a bit of a saintly heart, anyone she selects is at least one in a hundred. If you didn’t have any shining point, she wouldn’t have taken you. This treatment encountered a small hiccup, but you should know what to do next."